Now We Know
by Dreamer13
Summary: The ending. Find out what happens to Evelyn and Danny. A tearjerker. WARNING: You won't expect the ending. Please review and tell me what you think.
1. The Beginning

Disclaimer: I'm not Randall Wallace; I didn't come up with the original plot. No characters my own. All that jazz.  
  
"Now We Know"  
  
Danny sat thinking, thinking of Evelyn. He needed her now, needed her comfort. For three days he'd been the strong one, the one who helped others cry. He knew that she would help him to cry. For the first time since Rafe's death, his real death, he would be able to cry.  
There would be no hope this time, no secret wish that he'd turn up alive, like last time. Danny had been there with him, held him in his arms while he'd slipped under, resurfacing only once to tell him to take care of her. That was how close they were. Rafe knew that Danny would give up hope, stop living, if he didn't remind him of Evelyn. Rafe had passed to Danny his love of her-Danny would love her that much more for it. Rafe had lived in Britain because of Evelyn, and now Danny would survive in China. After Rafe's body had been pried from his grasp and put in the wooden coffin, Danny stood over it thinking.  
"Thank you, Rafe. Thanks for her love. If it weren't for you I'd never have known her. You've given me everything there is to give." God, I wish you were here. I wish you could get off this plane with me.   
He'd ridden beside Rafe the whole way home. That wasn't so odd, others were doing it too. Red, staring at nothing, was absentmindedly stroking the top of Anthony's casket. Reaching over, Danny patted his shoulder. "Almost home, Red. We're almost there."  
Red smiled at him, the same sad smile he'd worn for weeks now. "Then what? I mean, where do we go from there? You're a lucky guy, Danny. Don't let her out of your site." A single tear rolled slowly down his cheek, stopping halfway. Red turned away, not bothering to wipe it off. "But thanks."  
At least he could cry. Billy gone, Tony and Rafe, killed. His best friends. And Betty. Nothing could fill that space for him, Danny knew. He'd felt a tiny glimmer of that when they'd left for the mission. Something in Evelyn's eyes had said that she wasn't telling him everything. For one everlasting instant he'd feared the worst: she loves him. She doesn't love me. I'm hurting them both by being selfish. But it wasn't selfish, loving her. He loved her just as much as Rafe did. Who was to say she shouldn't be his? Only her. And her declaration had bee clear. "I love you, Danny." Why did those traitorous thoughts tear at him so?  
But Red had cried. He'd cried, inconsolably, at the sight of Betty and Billy's coffins. Danny hadn't cried once. He knew it was unhealthy, keeping his emotions in, but he needed her shoulder, the smell of her hair, her soft lips. He needed comfort when he finally broke down, and not the kind that Red could give, crying himself. Or Gooz, all alone in the corner, not speaking to anyone and rarely eating. No, Danny needed the comfort that only Evelyn could give, to comfort and be comforted at the same time.   
  
***  
They were lined up behind the coffins, watching as the medals for bravery were placed on their tops. Rafe's was the most beautifully done, with British, Chinese and American honors pinned there. He had died a hero. Just like he knew he would.   
"Dismissed," came the order from Doolittle, and the ragged line broke apart violently. As the General passed him on his way to the door of the plane, Danny saw that his eyes were wet as well, wet with grief and shame.   
***  
  
  
  
Finally the plane landed, rolling to a stop. They had been briefed on the happenings, about the fact that they were not expected to stand at attention when they departed, about how they were to reunite with their friends and family before reporting. A more public ceremony would be held to honor them, and their fallen companions.   
All of this ran through Danny's mind as he stepped off the plane, grasping the corner of Rafe's coffin behind his head, but searching the crowd desperately for the face he knew would be there. She was nowhere.   
Everyone else was running to the mass, being met halfway by loved ones. Danny stood, his head and shoulders taller than most of those surrounding him. Why couldn't he find her?  
And she was there. Directly in front of him, her cheeks flushed from running. In an instant his arms were around her, and her head rested on his shoulder. He felt at home for the first time in his life, and he didn't want to let the feeling, or Evelyn, go. He buried his face in her hair, breathing in its sweet aroma and drowning in her scent.   
His arms slid away from her body, and he pulled her back to look at her face. His eyes searched for the consolation he'd so desperately thirsted for, but found none. Instead, her gaze had settled on the coffin behind him. Her stare changed from shock and disbelief to an accepting sadness, and finally settled in a look that Danny didn't like, couldn't stand to see. He pulled her close in another hug, but her arms hung limply at her sides and she sagged in his embrace. He put his hand on the back of her head, forcing her face into his shoulder, to tear her eyes away from Rafe's casket. She didn't resist, didn't fight him at all, but as she hid her face in his arm, he heard her whisper, "Rafe...oh, Rafe, I lost you again. I lost you. You left me."   
Shoving her slightly, Danny pulled away. She staggered from the sudden lack of support, and looked up at him. His face wore such an expression, as she had never seen before. He was staring at her in disgust, shock and betrayal. His eyes were blazing. They had lost their loving gentleness and she could see no mercy at all in their darkness.   
"You...he..." Danny's pathetic stutter made her want to nurture him, and she started forward to hug him. He only surged backwards again, frantic to keep at a distance from her.  
"Danny..." her own voice sounded strange, thick and mottled with emotion.   
"You loved him. You loved him more than me. And you...you lied to me!" The accusation was barely above a whisper, but it held all the power of a shout in her mind.   
She didn't need to answer; it was all there on her face. He turned away, cradling his head in his hands. Only when he felt the burning touch of her hand on his shoulder did he whip around again. Her mouth closed when she saw his face, and the words she had been about to speak were quickly lost in the confusion of her mind. His eyes still held that glare, but his stare made her feel naked, exposed and dirty. "Well," he said, his features molded in a way that made him look powerful and weak; angry and scared, all at the same time. "Well. Now we know."   
He stumbled away, out of sight, and leaned against a post. She didn't love him. It had all been a hoax, generated in his mind. Rafe had known. Everyone but him must have figured it out.   
"Danny!" Clutching the rod for support, his body swaying dangerously, he turned to face the caller. It was Red, loping toward him with that sad smile back on his face. "Congratulations!" Danny closed his eyes against the brilliant sun, trying to block everything else out. He couldn't speak, couldn't move. He was frozen in time. After all, you can't survive once someone's removed your heart.   
Red's hand clapped him halfheartedly on the back. "Sandra told me. Don't worry, buddy. I'm sure you'll make one hell of a daddy." And he ran off in the direction he'd come, no doubt off to mourn with what was left of his support group.  
Danny lost his grip on the pole, slipping sideways and into the wall of the shack next to him. His mind spun, and he found that he could move, could react.   
Leaning against the partition weakly, he found himself remembering that night, that gorgeous and life-changing night. It had seemed such a big deal at the time, but eventually lost its severity. Now that magnitude returned, violently. Danny pitched forward, retching and gagging. He had lost all of his strength now, and sank to his knees, still vomiting. As he bent over the vile puddle, he could see salty tears slipping from his face to combine with the mess.  
He had been right. She helped him to cry.   
  
  
  
  
What about the baby? If I get a lot of reviews I'll go on...until then this is  
  
THE END 


	2. The End

Now We Know...Continued  
  
  
Disclaimer: None mine except the idea.  
  
Warning: You won't expect the ending!  
  
A light breeze caressed his face, and he waded out into the freezing water. Rubbing a hand ruefully over the light stubble that had accumulated over the last two days, Danny recalled another night on this beach, one he'd shared with someone special. As the gentle waves lapped at his ankles, the memory came blasting back with a force strong enough to knock him over. And he did sit down, right in the water, if only to keep from falling over. He remembered everything...  
  
  
A couple walked along the sandy shore, holding hands and swinging their bags back and forth. The wind was strong, and gusty enough to blow the woman's hat off her head and into the rolling ocean. The man threw back his head, laughing, and darted out into the waves, still fully clothed, to retrieve it. After a few moments of sloshing through the icy waves the woman called something to him, something that was lost in the wind's howl. Danny watched as the man kept wading out, farther and farther into the ominous swells, until his head was but a speck in the distance. He was bobbing up and down like a cork, still laughing giddily...  
  
  
Danny would never forget the look on the woman's face as her lover faded away, slowly, into the mist of the ocean. There was nothing anyone could do, but it was whispered that the man had purposely swum too far and allowed himself to drift away with the tide. His closest friends had been killed at Pearl Harbor; his own brother had died aboard the Arizona. Danny hadn't been able to comprehend how anyone could take his or her own life. He'd faced so many hardships in his young life, but there had always been something to live for. Rafe...but Rafe was gone, and so it was Evelyn who had kept him afloat. Evelyn, who loved Rafe. Evelyn, who was pregnant with Danny's own child. And here he sat, his own tears mixing with the salt of the ocean. Evelyn must be sick with fear, and grief, and...his thought trailed off as he realized his mistake. He had to get to Evelyn. Had to see her and hold her and comfort her cries. Had to soothe and breathe and just be with her. He had to love her.  
  
  
***  
A knock at the door roused Evelyn, bringing her up from her pit of sorrow. She made no move to get up, but called out in a voice raspy from little use, "Come in."  
  
I'm dreaming. She nearly cried out at the sight of his face, so forlorn and forgiving. The shadow of beard that sprinkled his cheeks told her that he hadn't been to see anyone, hadn't talked to anyone. His clothes were dripping, and his shirt was torn. I know he hasn't been flying. His hair was untidy, as if blown by a constant wind, and there were salt crystals dried on his hair, shining in the setting sun.   
  
But he just stood there. He was waiting, she knew, for her to run to his arms and apologize. Apologize for loving Rafe, for lying, for being pregnant. Apologize for things she couldn't control. He clutched a piece of paper in his hand, a crumpled picture. She could see Rafe's face on the upturned corner, smiling that trademark grin.  
  
And she hated him. Hated him for everything that had happened to her, to Danny, to everyone around them. She hated him for being so wonderful, for being so like her, for being so caring and sweet and loving and dead. She hated him for allowing her to love Danny, for having put so much of himself into Danny that she was reminded of him every time she saw Danny's face. She wanted to scream at him, hit him and cry...and then throw her arms around his chest and hug him, fell his arms around her and his breath on her cheek.   
  
But she was left with nothing. Danny had been her fallback, her rebound, but she'd never expected to fall in love with him. Looking at him now, from his posture to his expression, was like having Rafe there with her. This was her chance to tell him how she felt. If not to Rafe, she could have Danny.  
  
"Evelyn," his voice was soft and pleading. He'd seen her eyes go dark, seen her rise and ball her hands into fists. Now she was rocking on her toes, like she was about to jump at him. "Evelyn...I'm..." He didn't even know where to begin. Before he could say another word, though, she rocketed forward, arms outstretched, eyes flashing. She was on him, was pushing him backwards and falling with him to the floor. Her hair was in her face and she was pounding on his chest, his arms, his face, screaming a mixture of words and sounds.   
  
"You left me!" Her eyes burned, but no tears would fall. "You loved me and left me as soon as something else came up!" Her words burned him, because he knew they were true.  
  
Danny was stunned. He did nothing to ward her off, just lay miserably on the floor, taking everything she could give. Her face was inches away from his and her voice was reduced to a whisper. "You gave me everything and then took it all back. You left me with nothing." She was crying now, her head on his shoulder and her arms limp. He eased her off of him and onto the floor beside him and hugged her to his body. She was murmuring into his shirt, sobbing and sniffling.  
  
"Evelyn, I'm sorry." His own words were just a whisper now, barely louder than hers. She lifted her head and stared into his eyes. "I'm sorry for everything. And I just want to be with you. Will you marry me, Evelyn?"  
  
She stiffened. Suddenly, she recalled another time, just like this. She had to get away from his confining grip, his probing gaze and his prying tone. She couldn't breathe, couldn't think. It was too painful.   
  
  
"I love you, Evelyn. And when I come back from this war I'll marry you. So help me if I don't." It had been so real for her, not a dream or some distant image. She could see it all so clearly, their whole happy life planned ahead of them. And then he'd died. And he'd taken her spirit, her will to live. But Danny had nursed her back, and rebuilt her ability to love. He knew her so well, understood her completely. And loved her more than anybody else ever had. And so she had to save him.  
  
Danny could see the change in Evelyn's attitude instantly. It was as if she coiled into herself. Now she was pushing away from him, shoving at his embrace. "Get off me!" She was hysterical, choking on dry sobs. He stood up and reached down to help her, but she leaned out of his reach. Jumping to her feet, she started backing away. Her eyes had taken on a glazed look, and he could tell she wasn't seeing him. She wasn't comprehending anything. She was past all rationalization. He'd struck a nerve, and he didn't know how.  
  
"Don't touch me! Don't come any closer! Just stay away from me!" She was walking backwards, inching slowly away from him. "I don't want anything to do with you! You liar!" She hurled her words at him in a spray of spit. His eyes told her that it was working. Better to ward him off. No one could love her. For his own good, she told herself. If you love him, Evelyn, let him go. She picked her words carefully; rooting through her brain until she found the ones she knew would work. "Just stay away, Danny! I don't love you!" No tears, Evelyn. Straight face. "I never loved you. I loved-I love-Rafe. Always." She saw his body sway, saw his eyes tear. And then she saw him straighten up, applying the years of military discipline, and clear his face of emotion. He looked her straight in the eyes and opened his mouth to speak. When no words came out he closed it, and nodded instead. With one last look at her quaking body he turned sharply and walked out the door. She watched his retreating back, now shaking violently, and nodded to herself. "For your own good, Danny."  
  
  
Danny waded into the surf again, up past his ankles, then his thighs and finally up to his chest. His tears were falling again, making tiny splashes in the starry water. They mingled perfectly, mixing and becoming part of the ocean. And he realized that it all worked out in the end. He was where he was supposed to be. And, just as his tears had become a one with the stinging salt water, Danny allowed himself to drift. It wasn't cold anymore, not to him. All that he could feel was the peace, an inner peace he hadn't felt since he was ten years old. And Danny became the sea. 


End file.
